Strengthening Cooperatives

Strengthening Cooperatives

Supporting Community Ownership

Community-, employee- and member-ownership models are essential to Self-Help. Beginning with our founding in 1980, much of our early work was based on supporting employee-owned enterprises in North Carolina to help workers faced with a declining economy take more control over their futures.

In 1984, Self-Help expanded its member-ownership model and created a credit union as a way to support small businesses that had few financial resources. As a credit union, Self-Help has gone on to lend to many cooperatively owned businesses, including a major ecotourism business, a bakery and multiple food co-ops.

In 2015, we developed a facility for the Durham Co-op Market, and we were also a key partner in developing the Renaissance Community Cooperative, which opened in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2016. Self-Help's lending to food co-ops alone has totaled more than $8 million.

Promoting Healthy Food Systems and Cooperative Ownership

Twenty-five hundred families share ownership of Hendersonville Community Cooperative, a natural food grocery store in the mountains of North Carolina. Thanks to a loan from Self-Help and partner lenders, the 32-year-old co-op completed a long-planned expansion last year, tripling its retail space and adding room for community outreach. The Co-op is now adjacent to a Self-Help Credit Union branch, creating a hub of member-owned organizations where wealth is created and retained locally.

Smiles from a cashier and a long-time co-op member at Hendersonville Co-op.

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Self-Help's mission is to create and protect ownership and economic opportunity for all. We do this by providing responsible financial services; lending to individuals, small businesses and nonprofits; developing real estate; and promoting fair financial practices across North Carolina and the nation.

*Rates are current as of February 1, 2019 unless otherwise noted and are subject to change.
APR = Annual Percentage Rate APY = Annual Percentage Yield